A horrific experience with Wells Fargo Bank by Will Run For Miles. This just hurts reading it…I am not too patient dealing with things like this (yes I do put up with stuff for the miles/points but…I do have my limits!). Funny this was posted just a few minutes after I tweeted a story from the Los Angeles Times titled: “Wells Fargo’s pressure-cooker sales culture comes at a cost”
Looks like Chasing the Points has joined the Saverocity empire. I think it is a good fit, I like the focus of that blog!
Apparently there was some noise about a new Hyatt Gold Passport Elite level “Diamond Premier”. Apparently, nothing to fear (not yet anyway)…we don’t have an introduction of a new higher elite level here. This is a a status given to Hyatt hotel owners. (HT to One Mile at a Time and Loyalty Lobby).
Comparing Airline Elite Status in 2014. By Hack My Trip. Fantastic tables for each elite level at the top 5 US airlines.
Our Last Two Years of Travel in Pictures. By Travel is Free. Hey wait, no pictures of flat beds, airplane bathroom selfies, pictures of crappy airline meals and champagnes? Since you are so used to these pics, here is my breakfast aboard Aegean Airlines Business Class from Thessaloniki, Greece to Munich.
Miles Abound with “Manufactured Spend Guide Part 2: Buying Money Packs and Liquidating Using Pre-Paid Debit Cards”
PFDigest asked “If the U.S. Mint deal were around today, how long would it last? ” Not long at all đ And nice picture! And thanks for the kind words, you know where I stand. No wonder this blog has not made any money to date lol.
Teaching Computer Science in North Korea. Fascinatingly weird.
Amazing Unknown Places To Visit. This is Pangong Tso Lake, between India and Tibet.
Etam Cru’s Best Building-Sized Murals. By Twisted Sifter.
14 Photos of Seriously Frozen Airports. By Jaunted. After 3 days of no school, the kids will be back in school on Thursday Jan 9th. Thank God, I couldn’t handle it anymore đ
Another blog I am watching and like because of its focus “Points, Miles, Finance, Reselling” is Big Habitat. Apparently, this blogger has a pretty good sense of humor and TBB values everyone who makes us laugh! This post “Shill for Quill, Special BloggerAnagram Conspiracy Issue” was hilarious because of (selected few) stuff like this below (after I am roasted about my “random” giveaway):
So letâs take a look at some anagrams. Â Some interesting, nothing too outrageous. Â All for fun, so please no one take offense. Â And feel free to suggest some more to add in the comments (please keep it clean!)
bighabitatcom: Â âA big combat hitâ. Â Nice! Â Bam!
Saverocity: Â âSea victoryâ â not a bad one to have
MileValue: Â âA Evil Muleâ
MilesAbound: Â âA Blind Mouseâ â hmm, would I rather be a blind mouse or evil mule, tough choice
Travel with Grant: Â âGrant Thwart Evilâ â but can he thwart an evil mule?
mileage update: Â âMediate plagueâ, um, good I guess if a plague comes around.
travelsummary: Â âMy Smart Valuerâ a good one for a miles/points blog
chasingthepoints: Â âInsights Not Cheapâ, Did I say they were?
milesforfamily: Â âIffy mile moralsâ Â A coincidence Iâm sure, but weâll keep an eye on it.
Million Mile Secrets: Â âReelect Miss Millionâ. Â I didnât even know Emily was running for office.
Frequent Miler: Â âFreer men quiltâ. Â Not sure what it means, but not going to question a blogger of his stature
Travelbloggerbuzz: Â I gave up as I got tired of waiting for the anagram server to free up
And I leave you with this…First thought that came to me was…WTF!
I may take a few days off as I got some major year end project I need to put together.
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Primero?
First! Ha!
@ Spencer F: Congrats, it was a matter of a few microseconds, wow!
@ Oliver2002: I feel so bad you feel so bad about it. You obviously tried hard….you know, like Avis đ
@Big Habitat, this is the best you could find? Travel with Grant: âGrant Thwart Evilâ â but can he thwart an evil mule?
These are good too:
Vagrant Whittler – I’m 1/1000 Amish…
Travel Thwarting – sounds cool
Travel Grant With – not too original
Travel Want Right – it is a right, right?
Travel Want Girth – no comment
Travel Wart Night – warts by night, pimples by day
1000+ more here: http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/anagram.cgi?anagram=Travel+with+Grant&t=1000&a=n
@TBB, check out your Anagrams: http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/anagram.cgi?anagram=Travel+blogger+buzz&t=1000&a=n
Input too long (17 letters).
The permitted input length (maximum 30 letters) varies depending on the server load. Currently it’s limited to 16 letters.
Grant I’m glad you found some more you like. You can see how it can be time consuming to go through that many possibilities
My favorites:
Brave Buzz Egg Troll – I am brave for handling the trolls, I love eggs and I buzz 24/7
Bra Buzz Leg Erg Volt – Bras and legs are fine with me, can use an ergonomic chair (will buy it from an office supply store with my Ink Bold 5x of course), will never drive a Volt, still buzzing
Gal Brr Buzz Leg Vote – A gal with nice legs is always welcome, I ‘ve been Brrrrring so much lately, please always vote, still Buzzing!
I had to stop to preserve my sanity…
ThePointsGuy =
Ego Thy Inputs
Ego Shitty Pun
Guest Phony It
Get Shiny Pout
He Pouting Sty
He Touting Spy
He Stogy Input
He Pigsty Unto
He Suing Potty
He Using Potty
Eh Touting Spy
Eh Stingy Pout
Eh Using Potty
Hype Suing Tot
Hes Gut Pointy
The Suing Typo
The Gouty Spin
Got quite a bit of time on your hands eh?
Regarding that article about the WF sales culture: if they ever have something where the rewards scale up with the number of accounts opened (like “keep the change”, for example), we’ll be able to make some rank-and-file employees very happy.
This great! WF is going out of their way to help customers game the system:
“Employees would open premium checking accounts for Latino immigrants, enabling them to send money across the border at no charge. Those accounts could be opened with just $50, but customers were supposed to have at least $25,000 on deposit at Wells Fargo within three months or pay a $30 monthly charge.
To get around those requirements â and keep earning credit toward their quotas â Estrada said employees would downgrade the original accounts and open new premium ones for the customers before the fees kicked in.”
We don’t have WF around here and after reading these two accounts perhaps it is a good thing
No issues with mine so far….but I haven’t had to deal with a human yet.
Hopefully Rick can put in a better trolling effort today
Yesterday’s attempt at faux-outrage didn’t do a very good job of masking it
I wonder if he crafts his “outrage” posts the same way they do the travel challenge – where he just has a nearly complete template, and fills in a few blanks to complete it
How much rent do you pay for the space in his head Buzz?
I am still shaking my head after that uncalled for mega attack on me because some John said something. To suggest I condone it is one of the most ludicrous things ever stated on the internet imho.
Please ignore the trolls.
If it makes you feel better, he only suggested you condone it because he has an insane obsession with trolling you, not because he actually believes it himself
He’s going to continue to try to bait you into censoring. That’s pretty much his entire schtick.
I hope when I get old and senile like him, my family stops me from acting like that
Rick is the ultimate hypocrite. And it sure is entertaining when he comes on here with his crazy talk.
Maybe I should send him a postcard. Ahh, but then if he doesnt like what I wrote on it, he will ask the Post Office to start censoring his mail.
Thanks for the mention. I hope to have some revisions to the charts posted by the end of today.
Re: Wells Fargo, I’ve been a customer for 15 years, and my dad for over 30 years. It’s hard to know if/how service has changed since they expanded to the East Coast by purchasing Wachovia. In most things they’ve been fast, friendly, and done everything I would expect to keep my business as far as traditional banking goes.
But they don’t know a thing about credit cards. Calling to tell them you’ll be out of the country requires a phone tree and 15 minutes on hold. The rewards are generally poor. And there is a bit of bait-and-switch. Before I got into this game I applied for a WF credit card, was eventually denied, and then got a call back to go re-apply in person. No one told me the new card was a secured card with an annual fee (secured = credit limit depends on positive cash account balance, so it’s functionally no different from a debit card). I decided never to hold another WF credit card. Tip: If you never call to activate the card, they can’t ever charge that annual fee.
“The rewards are generally poor.”
Generally.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
I count 35 pictures in MMS’ latest installment of his 981 part trip report
here are some of the captions you can find under the pictures:
“Emily getting ready for train travel”
“Emily Pointing to our Destination”
“Our Tube Tickets Bought From the Machine”
“Emily at one of the Many Elevators in the Underground”
“Luggage Area on Train”
“We Picked up our Tickets From Here” (picture shown of a ticket machine)
“Emily Holding our Train Tickets”
“Emily Getting Ready to Board the Train”
“Luggage Area on Train” (yes, there were 2 pictures that had this caption)
“Train Ticket Kiosks Accept Credit Cards”
I think the repetition of the text in, above and below the pictures is done for SEO purposes. Read that somewhere đ
Welcome back! I learned something more about Greece through your articles, and thanks for sharing. I also learned more about you and read your “other articles” from yesterday’s “attack” and glad to see that you did not get more involved with that debate. Thanks.
Thanks a lot, I appreciate the feedback. I watched the greek news today. Only in Greece the following can happen:
There was a terrorist group named November 17.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_17_%28terrorist_group%29
It eluded capture for 27 years. Murders, kidnappings, bank robberies, property destruction, you name it. Revolutionary ideologues committed to fight by creating mayhem. Finally caught in 2002 when one of them botched a bombing. Anyways, one of the main guys got 6 life sentences or something. And guess what…He escaped two days ago! How? Well, apparently, he had been taking regular exit permissions to go see his friends and family for holidays, etc. In the last one, he just never came back. And this is the guy who never expressed any sorrow for the innocent victims and has been giving interviews to get the people to join “the struggle” (it always is a struggle about something with these guys). It was also discovered they all got together in prison and had an all night party over New Year’s Eve! WTF!!!!! And his lawyer is giving interviews praising him and talking about resistance crap. And some Greeks really dig this stuff…
Oh, another scandal. Some big time “business men” got millions of euros in loans from a bank that was bailed out and the money….went poof (to offshore trusts). Happens so often there it is not even news đ
I could go on….
Think about that: Terrorist with 6 life sentences given permissions to go roam the streets (it was the 7th time!). Only in Greece!
Well, in Israel people who are imprisoned for killing multiple people are somewhat routinely let out to the keep the so-called peace process moving along:
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/31/258412955/what-israels-release-of-palestinian-prisoners-means-for-peace
And here’s an excerpt from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531566/Palestine-prisoners-freed-peace-deal-Israel-Netanyahu-faces-anger-move.html#ixzz2q1x1djW6 :
“…The latest prisoner release is the third of four planned stages. The release was carried out by Israel overnight to avoid the larger spectacle of having to witness the celebrations over the killers’ freedom.
All 26 of the men have been convicted in deadly attacks, and have spent between 19 and 28 years in prison. They included 18 men from the West Bank, three Gazans, and in a concession by Israel, five men from east Jerusalem….
…The coming releases generated excitement throughout Palestinian society, where prisoners held by Israel are revered as heroes and freedom fighters. Families decorated their homes and neighborhoods with posters of their loved ones who were returning home and planned large feasts….”
Sadly, there are instances that have been reported after previous such releases in which freed prisoners go on to murder again. I know it is a very, very sticky issue and I cannot defend all things Israel does and says. And I think they should give back the West Bank and stop building settlements. I only bring it up to say that, sadly again, Greece is not alone.
On another topic, I thought Christie did really well at his press conference yesterday. I am a Democrat but I also like him, and like you, was happy to see how he worked with Obama following Hurricane Sandy. It will be interesting to see if Christie was telling the whole truth or if more info will come out to implicate him. I saw about 20 minutes of the presser at the gym and then some snippets on the news. I did believe him and I don’t think it will impact his presidential chances all that much. But other things – like he is not a Tea Party guy – might!
OK, enough said. I will move from politics – both international and domestic – to points, both international and domestic!
The fringe Nov 17 group has nothing in common with Palestinian terrorists imho. It was a unique tiny group of revolutionary communists and anarchists wanting to get support for their actions (WTF!) and bring down the government and start a new some type of utopian agrarian society or some other BS like that. Actually it was a bunch of bozos who managed to not get caught for so long by a combination of pure luck and greek police incompetency. All Greek in Greece. Israel and Palestinians goes way back and it is a lot more complicated.
Update: The guy who escaped is nowhere to be found..still! He will do something again, no doubt about it before he is caught (if ever).
If you haven’t seen comment #10 of Gary’s post on the 40K US offer, please take a look
BWAHAHAHAHAHAH
Gary’s been great this week while staying classy.
Wow!
That is the funniest thing ever.
Thanks for the mention!
I’ve never beeen to Thes – really want to go there!
The hotel is great. The city is okay if you are passing through. Oh, there is a Marathon there!
Just checking in.
We are still here getting angry and all đ
Man, MileValue is doing a really good job of…. what’s that word Rick used…… “controlling” the comments on his blog
Thanks for the mention & kind words!
You are welcome. And sorry for jumping the gun in the announcement!
No worries!
Also just checking in; I don’t feed trolls.
Received an offer for 3x AA miles on my Citi visa for up to 2,500 points if I spend at “Electronics and computer stores …. Clothing stores …. Toy stores …. Department stores” before 3/31/14. I suggest people check their email/Citi website. Appears targeted. Sign-up period appears to end 2/28/14.
Been tweeted to death already. And barely worth your time.
Retention dept stories:
citiamex: got full af credit PLUS $10 PLUS 1k AA miles each month I spend 1k (so 2% basically). I took it. AF comes due in 2 months…I may still can it after the credit:-)
citibusiness: Only $50 credit given, I pushed for full $75 credit, rep said yes but no to the same miles deal. Oh well. I will can it after the statement credit is done.
I see several of these tiny targeted offers for spend from Citi. Better than nothing I guess
Got the same renewal offers on the Visa and Amex. Didn’t notice that they paid me $10 to keep the card for one more year (then it’s onto magical month 26th).
Not worth moving spending away from 5% and 5 pts categories or minimum spending requirements, as >=5 cents beats 2 AA miles; however, if I’m spending more than $1000 in non-bonus categories, 2 miles still beats 2.2 cents cash.
@ Paul – Eh, I’m going to just hit BBuy for some Amazon cards. That’s about it.
Hmmm….can anyone tell me if the Chase Southwest cards for 50,000 points might be coming back anytime soon???
đ
Was it tongue in cheek? I’m not sure about the smiley face and I tend to get all dam’ serious when I hear about things dear to my heart… like good CC offers https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/offer
“Ryan | January 9, 2014 at 7:15 pm |
I know youâve done it before, but can you please do a re-post on ideas to meet $2000 spend on each card. ie. âManufactured Spendâ”
What an assist. Jason Kidd would be proud đ
It’s nuts that folks want to give money when there is absolutely NO reason to. People need to keep in mind that applying through a commission link is not going to make a difference to their odds of approval.
Darn credit card pimps. Some were hoping crap like this would be back so they would have an excuse to write crap after crap.
VFTW is just now on a completely different higher plane than others IMO. It is fun to see the cream rise to the top. Even long time veterans have learned a lot from him over the years.
“Even long time veterans have learned a lot from him over the years”
Not entirely true
Rick has learned nothing from him. Nobody who reads Gary regularly doesn’t know the things Rick and his “FTG Staff” apparently don’t know as evidenced by factual errors in the travel challenge
Too bad he didn’t read Gary’s piece yesterday on getting to Bora Bora before putting together that mess of a travel challenge from a few weeks ago. He could’ve found out that Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t fly to Bora Bora on Mondays đ
I am so happy I can still earn Skypesos by answering questions Audience Rewards đ
On a different subject, AMEX Platinum gutting continues with Delta now requiring dinero for guests. I can’t wait to see more pump posts for the Plat Amex soon…when a promo sale happens đ
My new favorite blog is MileNerd. His total lack of bullshit and filler is refreshing. And he doesn’t go on and on like many other writers.
I even like that no bozos (like me, at times!) can comment on there: it just cuts down on the BS
His post today on credit cards was perfection.
I agree. He is on my “Blogs I Like” list for a reason;-)
I like his irreverent writing a lot, but his credit car list was not a perfection. The Virgin Atlicantic 50K bonus is not dead, and putting Barclays Choice below a couple of truly lousy offers at the bottom of the list is wrong, IMHO. Can get you upt to
To continue after FFTSAA (Fast Fingers Twitch Syndrome Acute Attack), 32K Choice points can get you up to $800 stay at a European hotel easily. Of course, I would rather comment on his blog, rather than here, but, well… can’t.
FFTSAA lol
I was wondering if you can tell me who runs the Chicago Seminars Buzz
This guy who runs One Mile at a Time…. he doesn’t censor any comments. I remember a few years ago some commenter named Frank made crude personal insults of people sexuality. Many commenters asked OMAT to delete them but he didn’t
The guy who runs MileValue…. he has been dishonest with his readers multiple times. In particular, he promised his readers he would never push a credit card that wasn’t the best offer.
The reason I ask who runs the Chicago Seminars is because both of those bloggers have been cordially invited as featured speakers at the event
I would like to ask the person who runs these seminars why he condones people who don’t delete crude sexuality insults or condones lying to his readers.
I personally think it is crucial for any credible blogger to “control his comments”. By inviting the blogger behind OMAT, the head of the Chicago Seminars apparently disagrees.
So I ask again…. who runs the CS? đ
Here is a verbatim quote from OMAT (caps mine):
“So as many of you know (and pointed out over and over), there was a certain commenter on the blog that left HATEFUL COMMENTS MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY. I actually felt bad for the guy and thought they were so ridiculous that IT DIDN’T BOTHER ME AT ALL”
That guy is a featured speaker at the Chicago Seminars
If say…. someone left a hateful comment on TBB, and it didn’t bother TBB at all….. how would the head of the CS react? Consistently, I assume?
Steve, don’t let ingy become an obsession for you.
Don’t see what’s the big deal
I fully admit I enjoy trolling him on these boards. Basically what he does to George…. only I don’t try to pretend otherwise
“no…. no….. really, I’m doing this for the betterment of humanity”
Don’t make him Angry. haha
Make me angry??? Impossible. I’m sitting back in the easy chair with a few bucks earned from the blog and more miles and points than I know what to do with. I love busting all your chops. It only takes a couple minutes per day and love watching you all react.
Lets face it, you are all angry at yourselves become some schmuck thought of the idea of promoting travel cards and cashed in above his wildest and your wildest imagination. I can hear it now:
“I Hate that Frugal Travel Guy. I’m much smarter than he is. I could have done that much better than he ever did and wouldn’t be stuck doing ………… That lucky SOB. I hate him.”
When in reality, you just hate yourselves for not doing the deal yourself and realizing now, with the other 50+ blogs in the space, you are way too late.
George deep down inside is livid with himself that he didn’t do a blog when he first thought of it. And he took his anger out on all the bloggers that stepped up to the window and acted on their instincts and started a blog in time to “catch the wave”
Here is the good news. You are all probably right. You could have done a better job than I did. I was overwhelmed when the wave hit and sold out while the getting was good. The good news for you is the wave is crested and now falling down to mediocrity. At some time soon, you’ll forget your displaced anger at bloggers and hopefully “catch your wave” some day in the future.
Next time, listen to Nike and “Just Do It”
I wish you all the same luck that I had.
hahhaha
Ha ha indeed! The funniest thing is that ingy actually thinks people are jealous of him and his monetary success! ingy, there is almost NO ONE that mentions that here. Basically, it is only you who brings this up.
Poor delusional guy, thinking the world is jealous of him. I’d almost pity him, if he wasn’t so nasty.
Nasty? Just calling like it is. It’s certainly not the world that is jealous. Most are thrilled with a schmuck catching a lucky break.
It’s just a few who missed the boat. Steve, George. Just the ones that whine the most. It’s called “displaced anger”
Gosh, Rick, it didn’t take much to have you backpeddling from your statement “you are all angry at yourselves become some schmuck thought of the idea of promoting travel cards and cashed in above his wildest and your wildest imagination.”
NOW you are saying that it is Steve and George who are whining because they “missed the boat”. Funny thing is that I’ve never heard them say anything about being jealous about your selling your blog for cash. Maybe it IS the case that they did this—if so, I’d love for you to point that out–but I can’t recall anything from either one of those guys expressing jealousy.
More likely is that you use this “jealously theory” to try to explain to yourself why it is that people here don’t agree with you. You can’t understand that they have problems with your logic, so you deflect the discussion. You like to name call and say people are “angry” or, now, “jealous”.
Maybe, just maybe, it is you.
Okay, troll feeding is done for today.
Dear readers:
Ignore the trolls please.
“Gutless Coward” [because a “John” said something in a blog in da internet]
Nah. Gutless Coward because you didn’t have the courage (like some of your readers did) to even indicate that the comment was out of line and in poor taste. You were too afraid that somebody would call you out for censoring something that clearly was out of line.
Georgie, I’ve watched you censor. And your readers have watched you censor to cover your own ass. You aren’t fooling anybody.
And now you let your readers do your dirty work of slamming others. I get it.
As long as your new pit bull Steve trolls and slams others, including me, in his anger, I can stick around and give a little back. It only takes several minutes a day. I’ve got the time.
Don’t be angry. Next time, “Just Do It”